Hubble Drums

Ben Greenberg, aka Hubble, seems to have the right sense of humor, in that 2012's Hubble Drums has barely anything like beats on it. (Though not completely absent, as there's some kicking around deep in the mix on "Nude Ghost," the second of the three long tracks that make up its length.) But there is a rhythmic focus throughout Hubble Drums, and if it's not the sheer fractured obsession that marks the work of someone like Robert Hampson in Main's mid-'90s years, it's definitely one in a focused, minimal vein, as if early Lightning Bolt had ditched their instruments for guitars but kept up the same pace. Certainly some of Greenberg's work in Zs carries over as well, and the end feeling of Hubble Drums, while maybe a bit too easy to turn into background music the further each song goes, is striking nonetheless. The initial high-pitched scrape-squeal and stop-start reverb jangle of "Hubble's Hubble" pretty easily sets the tone of the whole album before turning into a tone loop that carries the rest of the piece. "Nude Ghost" itself proceeds in generally similar fashion, which then flows smoothly into "Glass Napkin." Here the guitar shifts into something like a clipped U2 guitar snippet from 1982 while further electronic scrapes and strains flow in the background, something that seems about to take off into an almighty riff but which nervously locks into place, a powerful and welcome nag in the ear. ~ Ned Raggett